As always, holidays are over much faster than you would like it. You barely leave your everyday life behind in order to relax completely, and then you have to return to it already.
Most of the time, already the first day back in the office after those relaxing days feels like you had never even left for vacation.
…What is the reason for this?
Well, on the one hand it is certainly caused by the long to-do list that has accumulated during your absence; in case you did not have any nice coworkers who took care of your tasks while you were gone. On the other hand, it is based on our attitude once we are back to our everyday lives.
However one might look at it, we do spend 80-90% of our lives in our “everyday lives” and just a much smaller percentage in vacation time.
Now you have to ask yourself:
Do I want to live in a way that makes me mentally struggle from one vacation to the next and that makes me regard the time in between that I spend at work and so on as rather exhausting, not fun, and as a chore? Or would I like to get up in the morning – ideally on a Monday after vacation – and look forward to my coworkers, work, and activities that await me?
Now you will wonder how you can accomplish this change… Really ask yourself for once, what brings joy to your life and what burdens you. Most of the times it will be the little changes that help us achieve joy with the things that occupy us day in and day out. Grant a little wiggle room for your inner child, pamper it and try to infuse humor into your life, so you will be able to take many things more lightheartedly.
And then there are also sport activities and the BootCamp Training, always giving us balance even after difficult days and enabling us to take stuff easier. After an hour of power in a group or on your own, you will come to realize how ridiculous something that made us worry all day long can seem all of a sudden. This distance grants us a better, wider view, while additionally releasing endorphins and adrenaline to achieve and renew our mental balance.
How can I maintain the lively holiday feeling for the longest time possible?
Here are a couple of tips how to keep the lively holiday feeling for the longest time possible:
Plan a short week after returning from vacation or try to have 1-2 days after your return to arrive back in a relaxed fashion. Directly from the beach to the office may cause a small culture shock! It is better to unpack comfortably and enjoy a nice evening back home to end the holidays.
On the first day, get to the office early. So you will not be overwhelmed by a huge level of noise and thousands of questions “How was your vacation?” Instead, you can enjoy the calmness of the first hours and welcome coworkers one at a time, as they slowly arrive at the office.
Instead of working through all the emails right away, talk with your coworkers and supervisor about all the stuff that has happened during the past weeks and find out where priorities are set right now. Now you can tackle your tasks in a focused way, instead of thinking that you have to accomplish everything at once. Many things might have taken care of themselves already, even though they look like a whole bunch of information flowing around now. It also helps to create a list of priorities, so you have a better overview of all the things that will come up.
Treat your colleagues to a taste of the delicacies that you brought back from your vacation. In this way, you will share your experiences with them as well, at least from a culinary point of view, and they will reflect this positively back at you.
Leave your out-of-office notice and voicemail on vacation mode for at least another half day. Not everyone has to know right away that you are back from vacation. You will take away the pressure from yourself that you have to be available for everybody at once.
As long as we are talking about the cuisine: If you recreate the local delicacies of your vacation location at home, you will be able to rekindle your holiday feeling.
Enjoy life after work. For example, by inviting friends over, showing vacation pictures, and enjoying a great meal together.
Try to visualize the experiences of your vacation again and again. Dream of the wonderful time you had, the warm sand beneath your toes, the sun sets, and the beautiful days and evenings.
We wish you a wonderful start – now it should also be successful J
